The Rise of the Phalanx
by Jemal Smythe
Summary: Follow Alex Kovacs as his begins the ultimate death sentence and discovers himself in the bloodiest sport in the galaxy- Enter The Tournament! This is a work in progress but the first 4 Chapters are up. Please review. Contains coarse language and violence
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

His dreams were disturbed by a giant klaxon going off in his holding cell. Until then he was in a paradise land filled with women, all single available and interested in him.

Obviously a dream then!

He slowly stirred to his cell being coated in a pulsating red light. He was still locked down in his chair, in this pathetic excuse for armour, on the way to the rest of his life. A matter of fourteen hours ago he was Lt. Alexander Kovacs of the NEG Retrieval, Rescue Regiment (R3, for short). He was commander of a crack commando team who specialised in black ops and operations behind enemy lines, which would often involve rescuing, captured or stranded V.A.'s (Valuable Assets) or retrieving information valuable to their employer, which wasn't always NEG mind you.

Government work was good and stable, but in a world where companies were capable of being wealthier and more powerful than governments, shadow ops for the mega-corporations like Axon and Generic Products often paid much better than a year of governmental work. Of course, you had to keep quiet and have multiple secure accounts so you could move the money around without leaving a trail. Indeed, his last job had been a solo operation for GP involving silent planting of illegal operations that the Government's Agency bloodhounds could sniff out. He hadn't known what the reason was behind the operation, or even the contents of the files he inserted in the company's mainframe, just that two hours and seven hundred and fifty thousand credits plus bonuses later, it had never happened.

But that wasn't why he was here now. It was stupid really, stupid enough to make Alex smirk at the thought of it. No, whilst on operations in other galaxies, his CO had been banging his wife for years, which isn't smart to do on any level, especially when the husband of the adulterous whore was trained in surveillance, spy craft and, as his boss and wife found out, lethal unarmed combat. Fourteen hours ago the judge had passed his sentence for the charges of first-degree murder of an NEG executive, with the wife being seen by the courts as collateral damage.

Death in the Tournament- why he was here now. After his sentencing he had been fitted with some sort of woven vest- apparently bullet- proof.

_Yeah, whatever!_ Useful armour was now made of at least ceramic plating, not cloth!

His restraints then disappeared into the chair and a hatch opened in the floor and a large SMG appeared as the door flew open and the red light turned green to the sound of a loud buzzer.

"Fuckers."

He took a hold of the gun. He knew what was happening, after all everyone has seen the Tournament a least once on a vid-screen, if not in person, and knew how twisted Liandri often were. His transportation flight was not that. This was going to be his debut in the Tournament. He took the safety off and loaded a round into the chamber.

_Might as well get this over with. Take a swing at it- that was the Triple-R way!_

He stepped out of his cell in a crouch, holding his pistol down by his leg, finger hovering just above the trigger. He straightened up and looked either side of him.

_This isn't the level I walked through in chains._

He looked at the top and bottom of his cells doorway. No joining marks and either side of the doorway were vertical lines where the paint has been scraped away.

_Very clever Liandri. The cells move floors for this fight. Very clever indeed…_

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sharp impact in his ribs.

"DIE!!!! AAAGGGGHHHH!!!" Yelled his assailant, squeezing the trigger still as Alex hit the floor due to the impact. He brought his weapon around to face the muscle bound, tattooed, Mohawk-bearing gunman and let off a few bursts from his gun. The bullets ripping through the gunman's knees knocking him to the floor- his gun flying out of his hand as he fell to the floor screaming, his prison overalls covered in blood around the knees.

Alex checked his ribs. The armour had withstood the bullets.

"Hmm, well wouldn't you know it?" He muttered with a look of approval

Satisfied that he wasn't bleeding, Alex got to his feet, adrenaline starting to pump through his combat-veteran body. Just like he always felt after an operation's first kill. He walked towards the crippled man who was dragging his body towards his fallen weapon. Alex stood on the back of one of his knees, resulting in the guy screaming. The guy turned around to find himself looking into the barrel of Alex's weapon. Without a word or sound Alex flicked the weapon to single shot mode.

One shot rang out, followed by the ringing out of a bullet casing hitting the metal floor, followed by the slump of a dead body. A second SMG was on the floor, just begging to be picked up by the ex-government commando. He heeded the weapon's call and allowed a smirk

"Twins"

He began to creep through the ship, looking for his next victim.

_Death in the Tournament, a punishment? Ha. This isn't so bad!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Nothing was out of the ordinary here for Alex Kovacs- to his logical mind; it was just another solo operation for some unknown benefactor. So far he had discovered five bloodied bodies, all had tasted lead. Then he had added three more bodies to the death count- one with a knife he had found on one of the corpses through the back of the throat. The other two had been introduced to "The Kids" as he called his two Enforcer Sub-Machine Guns. Now he was pinned behind a container in what had turned out to be the cargo bay of this LMC ship by another convict who had the advantage of an elevated position, up on the gantry and armed with some sort of energy weapon that emits a very powerful purple beam or ball of light.

_Now this crappy armour is not going to protect him from a hit from that thing, no matter what the adverts used to say. Think Al! Use his surroundings against him._

He was looking around the bay for something to give him the advantage.

"Hel-lo"

He spotted an LMC stamped crate, under the gantry in a pile of crates. This one had a sticker warning him of explosives. It was easy enough to get to-not too far away, but it would mean a sudden break from cover to get under the gantry. One shot from the energy weapon would be fatal though, but the reward could be worth it.

_What if it's empty? Ah, fuck it!_

He burst from cover firing the Kids blindly in the direction of the other con, who wasn't giving up his position any time soon. He managed to get some shots off, including one which made the hairs on the back of Alex's army shaved head feel like they had been burnt off. But luck wasn't on his side. Alex slid the last few feet into cover as the gun ran dry.

Kovacs started to push the crates off the top of the one he was after, whilst his opponent was slapping in a new energy canister and running around the gantry to the opposite side of the bay. Alex had to hurry. If the guy made it to the other side without Alex cradling something better than pistols then he would be open and done for. He had seconds to spare when he ripped open the crate.

_Groovy!_

He found a three-barrel rocket launcher and ammo in the crate, loaded the weapon, swung around to face the position his military training told him his opponent would want just in time to see his opponent face him and then freeze as he saw the three barrels stare at him and then spin as three rockets headed his way.

With and almighty explosion the weapon died in Alex's hands. Before he had time to worry about the weapon malfunction sirens blazed and a booming voice echoed

"YOU HAVE WON THE MATCH!"

He let himself slump back in the bay, whilst he waited for the craft to reach it's destination. He picked up his enforcers and kissed them both

"Who needs a wife when I have you two?!"

The craft touched down and the hatches in the side of the small craft opened as five walkways locked into place by each exit, with a Liandri Guard standing there in heavier riot armour armed to the teeth with a whole manner of weaponry. Outside were giant reinforced concrete barriers with thousands of fans standing in the sunshine, on two levels of the spaceport, screaming and holding banners and signs with slogans, messages and icons for all the different teams in the tournament, all of whom being controlled by numerous men in caps and black jumpsuits with the big green LMC pyramid icon on the back, each cradling a shotgun. Obvious Liandri take security at tournament events very seriously!

Behind the fans on both levels and at each end of the transport were giant vid-screens, each easily fifty feet tall showing pictures of the new Tournament fighters as they emerged from the craft, but were shackled by each guard and stood at the top of each walkway. There were five of them, Alexander saw- one brute of a human being in big bulky armour- a genetically boosted juggernaut, courtesy of Axon Research- the most famous of which was the 2302 Tournament champion, Gorge. Other included two women, one red head (literally, red) and one a brunette, both wearing similar armour to Alexander. Then there was an alien creature dressed in very ornate armour and, of course, Alex himself.

Suddenly a voice boomed over the PA system of the spaceport, silencing the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, fans of all ages and races, welcome to the first ever Lower Tier Tournament draft."

The crowd roared at the announcement

"With the first pick in the draft, Vesuvius, captain of the Nemesis team selects…"

Alexander looked on from his position down the end of the ramps to where an official looking woman was in conversation with a giant juggernaut before talking into her headset. The guy was looking at the middle platform where the new juggernaut contender stood

"RRRA-ZOR!"

The juggernaut threw his hands in the air as all the cameras focused in on him and he began to walk down the walkway to his new team captain.

_Well what a surprise there! A Juggernaut team picking another Booster_

It is pretty much a known fact that, in the Tournament, gene-boosted juggernaut teams tend to stay with their own kind and select other Juggernauts (or "Boosters" as they were known in the NEG army) - people always said it makes them feel less odd and more human than being with standard, genetically stable Homo sapiens. Regardless of the reason, it gave such teams a huge advantage of most other teams, except Gen Mo'kai teams, whose alien members could use their agility and killer instincts to cancel out the Juggernaut's brute strength.

He knew this from books, but had also seen it during an NEG/Gen Mo'Kai joint operation to hunt down and execute a group of Boosters who had escaped from an Axon bio-research facility and were terrorising a major MLC- Multi Level City- on Tanoth IV. The NEG had hired the alien mercs for this very reason, and they worked like a charm, so much so they were recruited into the R3.

"For the second pick in the draft, please welcome Xander, acting captain of the Lucky Sevens team" said the announcer as the juggernauts were packed up into a transport skimmer and whisked away.

"Who?" asked Alex. He had never heard of the Lucky Sevens, then again, he had been in prison and on a lot of operations recently. The question was, of course, to himself but the guard jabbed him in the side with the butt of his rifle, knocking some of the wind out of him

"Shut up con and wait your turn!"

Coming up from his crouch, taking a few deep breaths, he looked at the guard

"If I wasn't in shackles I would-."

"You'd what?" retorted the guard, cocking his rifle "Don't think that I am not allowed to kill you, because, given a reason, I wouldn't think twice about it!"

Alex gritted his teeth. The guy was right; Liandri would probably show it on tonight's highlight reel!

The crowd roared. He had missed the name of the contender but the woman with bright red hair was walking down the walkway into the Lucky Sevens team

_Got to find out who they are sometime._

As they were led off a guy in battle-damaged armour, which was probably originally black, but the scratches, damage and replacement parts couldn't give him a definite answer.

"With the third pick in the Draft, here comes Blake, leader of the Dark Phalanx"

_Blake? Dark Phalanx? What the hell is a pedigree team doing in this Lower Tier Draft?_

Numerous years ago, before Malcolm had beaten Xan, Blake was Tournament MVP and the Phalanx were title contenders, known particularly for being champions of the Assault event multiple times. Of course that event was removed and, if his memory served him correctly, they started to fall off in the Championship race. Team members began to leave or die and they disappeared from the radar. He remembered this for two reasons.

Firstly, some of Colonel Nathan Blake's tactics, such as the Blake formation is taught as part of the training process in the NEG forces and secondly, the Dark Phalanx were originally NEG operatives, not too different from Alex, who had been cheated out of wages and had been on suicide mission by an NEG executive, which lead to numerous massacres. The guy was connected to the upper realms of the government and was untouchable. Blake and his men threatened him and wanted justice and so joined the Tournament in order to earn enough money and power to get NEG to prosecute the executive in question, plus it would remove the fabricated charges that the colonel had been convicted for by a closed NEG court.

_Corruption- comes with the mega-corporations and shadow ops I suppose._

The trick is not to become someone's lackey and stand up for yourself, like Blake had done and been silenced for.

The vid-screens showed Blake, an older but still well built man with a grey flat top and closely trimmed beard, with hairs no longer than a centimetre. He still had that senior officer look about him. He pointed towards Alex's way. And then stood in the typical "at ease stance" found in any armed force- feet shoulder width apart, hands cupped behind your back, with back straight.

_Me? Blake wants me?_

Alex felt his blood rush and felt an emotion he hadn't felt in a long time. Nervousness, mixed in with a little excitement.

"Dark Phalanx selects…Alexander Ko-vacs"

The PA confirmed it and Alex, as professional as ever simply clenched his shackled fist and tensed his jaw.

_Yes! This is going to be very interesting._

"Move con!" ordered the Liandri guard in the midst of a fairly muted crowd response. Dark Phalanx wasn't as popular as it once was to these bandwagon-jumpers, who probably all supported the first team name they read in the top six of the league table!

With a sharp jab to the back with the guard's gun barrel Alex began the walk down the walkway. The guard would continue prodding Alex when he was being slowed down; it was obvious too, as was Alex's irritation.

"I'm in shackles you dumb bastard. Want me to walk faster, take them off!"

"Shut up I said"

One harder prod was all it took for Alex to lose his cool near the bottom of the ramp. He stopped dead in his tracks two meters from the bottom of the ramp way and his newly acquired team leader.

"Move!" yelled the guard as he rammed the butt of his rifle into Alex's back, knocking him forward and onto the floor. Cameras were all on this; even the announcer was getting in on the action

"It seems the Phalanx draftee has an issue with one of our fine correctional guards!"

The crowd booed like the devoted Liandri followers they were. This didn't bother Alex as Blake helped him up

"Come Kovacs, get up and stop being stubborn"

"In a moment, colonel"

He turned around to face the guard and with lightning speed proceeded to head butt the guard's visor, shattering that and the guard's nose. Blood was everywhere as the guard dropped his weapon and cupped his hands around his nose. This left him open to a strong knee to the gap between his belt and the bottom of his body armour, which knocked him to the floor. Alex was about to kick him when Blake pulled him off

"Cool it soldier, otherwise you'll be put down by the Liandri snipers and never have a chance of freedom and trust me, that isn't something to be taken lightly"

Alex stepped back and began walking alongside Blake to the waiting skimmer, whilst having drinks cups, stones, and insults hurled his way by the Liandri brainwashed mass.

"The guy was being a jerk, sir"

"It's a pre-requisite of the job they do! I'm Nathan Blake, no longer colonel, so drop the sir."

They stepped into the skimmer after running the gauntlet. The doors were locked and the skimmer began to move

"Alexander Kovacs. Alex or Kovacs will do though"

"Pleasure" Blake said with a smirk.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

The skimmer stopped and the pilot announced they were entering the gates. Alex looked out of the meshed over slits that the skimmer had for passenger windows. All he could see was the skimmer moving through what seemed to be a double gate entrance, the type of entrance you would find in a prison's vehicle entrance. An LMC guard wearing his jumpsuit, sunglasses and cap with the seemingly omnipotent green pyramid logo of the Tournament's owners passed the vision slit, not even looking into the hold.

He heard the outer doors shut as the LMC guard shouted to his counterpart, who has some elevated position- Alex couldn't see were, but it was most likely the door control room- and then the second doors opened and the skimmer made a short trip forward before turning half a circle an setting down.

The doors opened, revealing two more black Liandri guards armed with a generic high-powered weapon each- one had a shotgun, the other a rifle capable of burst fire.

"Come on out" one of the guards said to Kovacs who shuffled on the bench to the end and was helped out by the other guard.

"Welcome to your new home Kovacs" Blake said, getting out of the transport as one of the guards started to unlock Alex's shackles "oh, and don't head butt these guys or their friends on the perimeter will unload twice your body weight in ammunition before you even hit the ground. They also aren't like that guard back in the spaceport.

They were in the middle of a plain, prairie like courtyard which was surrounded by a laser wall, allowing light to pass through it, but not people. As far as he could see, this was the only building for miles around. Above the wall was a walkway with some guards patrolling and others watching the new arrival. The courtyard was bare at best, with only a poor quality running track in it. Looking behind him Kovacs saw a huge stone building, behind him and noticed a grey asphalt path leading from the skimmers resting pad to the building and another, which was built half in the wall on either side. All of the structures looked in a state of disrepair and some courtyard buildings were now piles of rubble

"What is this place, a prison?"

"Close, it's the Dark Phalanx headquarters, prison, training centre and living quarters all rolled into one walled off complex. The building used to be an abandoned prison and then Liandri gave it to our team to use. As you can see, a lot of work needs to be done, but we can't do anything because our team just isn't performing. Come on I'll take you inside. Thanks guys"

"No problem Blake" replied one of the guards as the two team-mates started walking away from the skimmer and along the asphalt path"

Blake gestured back to the guards "Told you, we've got some decent guys here. All have served on the front line for years and have been assigned as our guards as reward for good service, after all, guarding a Tournament team is easy and safe work, well easier and safer than a high security penal colony anyway.

You see you may think that guarding us is more dangerous since we are here to fight and are chosen for our weapons and combat skills, aggression and personalities, but when you are forced to fight on a regular basis every year, you eventually learn to channel your aggression in tournament fights and outside, you want the simple things- to read a book, train, sleep, eat, socialise with your team-mates, recover from injuries, anything but fight. Hell, we have even been known talk to the guards about random things and they will sometimes start the conversation with you. Count your blessings that you've been given this chance to fight for your freedom or even be a celebrity, like Gorge or Malcolm"

"Yeah, it's a REAL bonus having a prolonged death sentence rather than a swift execution! No offence Blake, this is not something people enjoy having to do."

Blake shook his head "no, but you eventually accept it's your fate to be here and start to get into the spirit of things, if you will, or else you'll be dead before you know it. Anyway, on to the grand tour"

The two of them entered the building through the automated doors. It took them into a grand hall, very bare and with cracks and cobwebs on the wall and ceiling, which was a good one hundred feet above Al's head. The only hint of colour in the entire stone coloured chasm was the dark scarlet roll of carpet with small gold lines running along each side which lead to two grand wooden stained doors. There were also two sets of wooden doors on either side of the room. Blake took Alex to the left-hand set of doors, along the cracked marble flooring which Alex just noticed through the layer of dust.

"Doesn't anyone clean this place?"

Blake chuckled "Son, what do you expect when dust is blown in every time the door is opened? Plus no-one comes here anyway and with so little funds available in the team coffers', cleaning a room no-body stays in seems pointless. Anyway, this way"

The double doors led down a corridor lit by strip lighting which ran along the top and bottom of each wall, only breaking on the right hand side occasionally for sets of doors.

"This is our habitation wing" explained Blake "We have the training centre, sick bay, library- yes we have a library, although no-one uses it- and our armoury, through each of the doors on your right. All doors are motion activated. Step close enough and they'll open for you. They can't be locked at all- Liandri's anti-suicide policy, apparently!"

"This must have a pretty nice prison in its day!"

"Ha, you crack me up! These are Liandri conversions, the main hall and the two other large rooms, which you'll see in a moment, are our design."

They walked to the end of the corridor and the door automatically slid open to reveal a round room with a spiralling ramp running around the room. As Alex walked in he saw industrial, blast doors dotted along the ramp. The towering room must have been thirty to forty metres across and went up six revolutions.

"This is were we live"

"Here?"

"Yep, come on I'll show you to your cell. Well, actually, out of the twenty cells we have, only four are taken, and they're the top four, so any other cell you can have and when I say cells, I mean cells. They are small and each has minimal furnishings."

They walked up the curved ramp way as Blake gave Alex the history of the place from when it was a prison right up to Liandri's purchase and the Dark phalanx residence. They stopped at the cell fifth from the top of the ramp- Blake obviously wanted them all together. It reminded Kovacs of when he was first billeted into the NEG forces and he had been shown his room by his drill instructor and boot camp company commander, although Kovacs couldn't remember his name at this moment. Blake then span the giant rust covered wheel and following an audible clank he pulled the door open. Kovacs stepped through.

_Cells- he wasn't joking!_

The room was small and rectangular in shape. In front of him was his bed, mounted on some drawers. On it was a standard issue set of military blankets, no doubt bought for cheap in bulk from some surplus store. He leant on the bed to test the springiness, which was to Alex's satisfaction. Overlooking the bed was a small semi-circular window, glazed but with solid metal bars on the outside. It was hinged at the bottom and was currently open, letting in some rather dry but cool air.

"Not much of a view" Kovacs joked as he peered out over the perimeter fence with patrolling guards on it and nothing but plains, but n the distance he could see mountains, still with their peaks white with snow. It was then that it hit him

_I am a prisoner, then? Was ringing that egotistical officer's neck and killing his cheating wife worth being restricted like this, forced to fight whenever Liandri called, just to entertain some slack-jawed middle class people who had nothing better to do than want death on someone else?_

"Is this to your liking?" Blake said interrupting his thoughts

"Sorry?" apologised Kovacs "I was in my own world"

"Got to be better then this one, eh?" Blake said with a fatherly smile. Even though Kovacs was in his twenties, it still felt like it helped "I asked if this cell was okay, I mean it's not a luxury apartment but it's yours to mould however you want to. Rip it up and just have a flat mattress on the floor if it makes you feel better. I'm telling you though, the others aren't any different!"

"Yeah, it's fine sir"

"Good, because now we've got a team meeting to go to, but I want to show you something on the way; something to think about whilst you're with us"

"Lead on"

The new Phalanx shut his cell door behind him and followed Blake up past the other four rooms and into a room which definitely wasn't like this when it was a prison for everyday criminals, not these select, elite criminals who actually have more freedom than their predecessors.

They were on the back balcony of a huge room. Spiralling staircases led from either end of the balcony, meeting in the middle at a podium before running straight down the middle of the room to the floor. Down the middle of the balconies, stairs and indeed the room itself, which seemed to all be made from high quality masonry, which could do with some improvements, there was a plush red felt carpet. This ran all the way along the vast room- probably the old prison dining hall at one time- up to the double wooden doors at the end.

Stone pillars ran along either side of the carpet reaching up to the ceiling where light shone through in some dust coated skylights, running along the peak of the arched roof

"Impressive huh?" mused Blake "This is our Grand hall. It's here where we keep the trophies we've won over the years. We also hold funeral services for our fallen before burying them in the cemetery and then place their plaque on one of these walls. It's the spiritual home of the Dark Phalanx if you will, and the team's very heart. Most our money was used to keep this place looking as best as we could, but, as you can see, despite our best efforts this place is looking more abandoned and dead every day."

They were now walking down the flight of steps to their right as Blake carried on his philosophical and historical speech. Kovacs was listening intently, up to the point where he saw the Dark Phalanx banner draped at the centre of the podium from balcony. It was a simple design- a blood red piece of cloth with the Black fist of the Dark Phalanx in the centre. In front of the flag, was a small marble rectangular block, the top reaching Alex's waist. On it stood an old golden trophy- three green pillars arranged in a triangle, imitation marble above and below. On the top layer was a small bronze step pyramid with a bronze man in metal armour holding some sort of weapon above his head. The trophy itself was a good two feet tall. Alex leaned in closer, in order to read the inscription on the small plate on the base. It read:

**Dark Phalanx**

**Assault Competition Champions 2292**

"That was a long time ago, but I still remember lifting that trophy above my head in front of thousands of fans that were in the arena as if it were yesterday. IT is the last trophy we've won. That's what this post is for. It is exactly in the centre of this room and is used to focus our efforts when we walk here by always displaying the last trophy we've won. Also it would be a nice centre-piece should we ever get permission to throw parties like we used to when we were contenders"

Blake bowed his head slightly and his voice dropped into a saddened tone. Kovacs understood why- Blake had once been a proud soldier, commanding one of the best regiments ever to exist. He is a proud individual and has had it all snatched away from him by Liandri and NEG- friends, colleagues, his unit, even his wife and daughter. Blood began to blood in Alex's veins.

_Here I am standing in front of a once proud man, who Liandri have now destroyed. He's no longer the colonel who was a master tactician and who had one of the best combat records in the history of NEG forces! I'm not letting this happen to me! I'm getting out of this as soon as possible! Look out for number one, because there's never a number two to do so!_

"Well, we'll have to get this changed won't we boss?"

Blake just nodded "Yes, we will. Come on we've got a meeting to attend and you've got to meet your team mates"

_Not team mates colonel, my tickets out of here!_


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

They had walked out of the room through the double doors which led them back to the entrance and then turned left and went beyond those doors. It led to one thing- the team conference room

Another grand affair. The doors opened into a large room, three stories high and basically furnished with stone supports, not as elegant and the team hall mind you, and hanging lights and the sunshine from outside lit up the rooms only feature- a large, polished oak table with five chairs gathered around the far end. Three were occupied, leaving the one at the head of the table and one on the near side, next to a woman in armour, free. Behind the head of the table was a huge, wall mounted flat screen, currently showing nothing more the team emblem.

Blake was walking to the head of the table, acknowledging the presence of the others as he passed them. Kovacs followed him up to the free chair and waited for Blake to be sat before he fell into the rather comfy, high backed, leather swivel chair.

"I want you to meet your team mates Kovacs"

He started with the guy sitting opposite Alex, with the aim of working his way clockwise, no doubt. The fighter was dark eyed, and serious- looking, with a short black flat-top and not a hint of stubble in sight. His broad shoulders and muscled chest showed through his white vest, white contrasted heavily to his dark chocolate skin.

"That's Doc. He's our medically trained comrade in arms. Loves his medium calibre firearms, has quite a reputation for kills with a Mini-gun. A great supporting soldier if you ever need it and outside of the Tournament he's our physician and chef"

Doc nodded to Kovacs

"This guy is Gorn, our armourer and weapon smith. He's been in the the Tournament as long as I have. A solid tactician and team player, he looks after our training weapons and armour whilst we aren't fighting and is a lover of all things explosive in the Arena floor"

Gorn would be irresistible to women, with his square jaw line, blue eyes, tanned skin and short brown hair, if it was not for his thin but numerous scars on his face. Again, well built, but smaller than Doc, his smile gave him away as the more relaxed, light-hearted member of the team. He wore a black t-shirt with a grey denim jacket over him, dog tags on display over his t-shirt

"Nice to meet you Kovacs"

"Likewise" came the reply

"Finally" continued Blake "This is Andrea"

Andrea had black hair, held back in a pony tail and was of average size, probably smaller than anyone else here, but her sportswear showed a toned and slightly muscular body, featuring noticeable, but not defined abdomen muscles which some men find attractive, not Kovacs though. Her skin was tanned- training in the sunshine does that to you after all, her eyes were hazel and her featured soft and undamaged by warfare of any sort

"She's a former bodyguard of mine from when I was the army. She's a funny one, so watch out, or you'll end up as the butt of one of her jokes. As you can tell, she also has looks that help her get her way sometimes, like what she's done to Gorn!"

"Oi! I'm not her puppet!" Gorn protested "She fell for me!"

Blake and Doc, just laughed

"In your dreams matey!" She replied with a smile, before turning to Kovacs, giving him a wink

"Welcome to the Phalanx, Kovacs"

Kovacs smiled back and nodded.

"These, Alex my boy, are all volunteers who have followed me here when the shit hit the NEG fan. Whether out of foolishness or loyalty, I'm not so sure but, you and I are the only two convicts here, you of course being the only real one!" Blake stated with a smile

"Are you going to hold it against me, old man?" That was a cheap shot which Alex didn't like too much.

_Granted, Blake has brought me into his beloved Dark Phalanx and is giving me one last chance for freedom, but I am not here to be used as a scapegoat or goaded for what happened. It was my mistake and my life; it's none of his damn business! As much of an honour it is to be chosen by colonel Blake, I am getting out of here. I'm no gun toting, psychotic gladiator, I'm a soldier!_

Blake chuckled "No Alex, not at all, you are part of our family of misfits now and I just want you to know that none of us will judge you for what you did, you are our team-mate and brother-in-arms now and that's all that matters. So calm down and we all hope you get settled in as best as you can, given the"

"Alright then." Alex calmed himself down as a beeping started and then stopped as the flat screen blinked into life showing a man in an expensive looking backdrop, wearing clothes equally as expensive. He was in his forties and was going bald by the signs of his thin combed-over greying hair.

"Just in time" Blake said spinning around in his chair to face the screen "Good Morning, Gerald and to what do we owe this pleasure?"

"The usual Blake, financial reports for the team, Tournament news and details about your next fixture. First off, things aren't getting any better with the bank I'm afraid. I've tried everything but the balance keeps going further into the red. At this rate I can't see us lasting the rest of the season" Kovacs noted the look of concern that almost seemed fake. He leaned in towards Andrea and began to whisper

"Who is this guy and what's he on about "us lasting the season"? He doesn't look like he's part of the team"

"He's Gerald Diego, our legal representation and liaison to Liandri and our manager." Andrea whispered back "He isn't one of us, he's never held a gun in his life, but he thinks by saying that we will appreciate him more"

"I take it you don't?"

"Don't talk about this to anyone not even Blake unless he talks about it first, but something isn't right. Since our fall from grace we lost our original rep and ended up with this desk jockey. Things have gone from bad to worse, but until one of us is freed, or in our case released from our contract, we're all stuck here and can't do some digging into what's going on"

"Can't we just fire him?"

"Liandri doesn't let Tournament fighters, who aren't champions to have any dealings with anything outside of the arena. Face it, if a fighter had a say, what's saying he couldn't change things and lose Liandri a considerable amount of money or free him or her self?"

"I see"

A voice broke in "What are you two whispering about?" Blake asked

"Nothing much, Kovacs just had a few questions about our esteemed manager"

"Oh, you're the new guy I had to pull a lot of strings to get? I'm Gerald Diego, your manager" The man nodded on the screen

Kovacs just replied with a nod of his own, but stared intently into the man's eyes, as if to be scouring his soul. This seemed to make the manager uncomfortable enough to cough and then break the deadlock by looking back towards Blake and continuing.

_He is hiding something. What though? There's nothing I hate more than someone who lies and sends people to their deaths to satisfy their lies._

"Anyway," continued Diego "I have two bits of news for you. Firstly Blake, as per regulations you and our new recruit are scheduled for a fight in two days against Venom. It's two on two and is being dubbed "Battle of the sexes". Don't disappoint the male race now!"

"We'll do our best as always, Gerald"

"Good to hear. Also, as you have no doubt all heard, it's Liandri's Founding day celebrations in five days and they are holding a fighting spectacle. Each division in all of the leagues is holding an invitational round. Two randomly selected teams from each tear will go head to head in a Deathmatch game, with the winner taking a trophy and…. one Golden enforcer"

This all got the table buzzing, except for kovacs, who had no idea what was going on.

"A what?" he asked

"A golden enforcer" replied Gorn "A ticket to freedom"

"Oh, I see" kovacs felt a bit dumb at this moment

"When are the selections made?" Gorn said looking up to the screen

"They already have, that's why I'm telling you. You are all scheduled to face the Lucky sevens in the lower Tier invitational"

A cheer went around the table with Gorn tugging at Blake's sleeve

"Hear that Blake, one of us could be freed!"

"I know Gorn, I know but we have to win it first!"

_A Golden Enforcer, eh? Maybe I can get out of this hellhole quicker than I thought. Sorry Blake, but in the end of the day sir, its dog eat dog._

This put a smile on his face and his thoughts aligned themselves. He was going to survive the next game and then free himself the game after, even if it meant the death of his team. As evil and despicable as it sounds, he didn't think of himself as a Phalanx, he was Alex Kovacs, one man, alone against the world and he liked the sound of that.


End file.
